Your icon is the smallest and most important piece of your store presence. It appears in search results, on the home screen, and in ads — often at 60 pixels wide. Here's how to make one that earns the tap.
One idea, boldly Great icons express a single concept: a symbol, a letter, or a simple shape. Cramming in a logo, a background, and a tagline turns to mush at small sizes. Pick the one thing your app is about and commit to it.
Contrast is everything Icons compete in a grid of other icons. High contrast between your subject and its background makes yours pop. Avoid thin lines and subtle gradients that vanish when scaled down.
Test at real size first Design at large size, but judge at 60×60. If it isn't instantly recognizable that small, simplify. Drop it into a mock results list next to competitors and see whether your eye lands on it.
Skip the text Your app name already sits under the icon in every store and home screen. Text inside the icon just adds clutter and becomes unreadable when small. Let the symbol carry it.
Stay consistent with your brand Your icon, screenshots, and feature graphic should feel like one family — same palette, same personality. That consistency is a quiet but powerful quality signal.
Export the whole pack Apple and Google need the icon at many sizes and formats. Generate the full set once so you're not resizing by hand.
MoonStart's AI icon generator turns a short description into an on-brand icon and exports the complete icon pack for both stores in seconds — free.